Our Location in the Kenai Peninsula

Our Alaska log cabins are conveniently located six miles from Kenai Airport, exactly midway between "Sister Cities" of Kenai and Soldotna. A few short minutes from the World Famous Kenai (Home of the standing World Record King Salmon) and Kasil Rivers. We are also near Seward and Homer, Alaska so our log cabins are in the very best location!

Kenai and Soldotna are located in south central Alaska on the beautiful Kenai Peninsula. Kenai lies on the shores of Cook Inlet, at the mouth of the world famous Kenai River. Because of the close proximity to Anchorage, Kenai is easily reached from Anchorage by air or highway. It is a beautiful 2.5 to 3-hour drive about 160 miles (260 kilometers) south of Anchorage along one of the most scenic highways in Alaska. Kenai is easily accessible for all types of vehicles.

For air travelers, it’s just a short flight (25 minutes) on a scheduled air carrier to Kenai’s modern airport, the largest on the Kenai Peninsula. Flights leave Anchorage hourly.

We are also near Seward and Homer, Alaska so our log cabins are in the very best location!
At Caribou Crossing Cabins, you will be centrally located to Fish for Kings, Reds and Silvers in the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers. Dig for fresh Razor clams. Troll Kings and fish for Halibut at Homer, Ninilchik and Deep Creek. Experience the Silver Salmon Derby in Seward and Halibut and Rock Fish in Prince William Sound.

Directions to Caribou Crossing Cabins:
You will enter Soldotna from Anchorage on the Sterling Highway. You will proceed on the Sterling Highway through town turning RIGHT on Kalifornsky Beach Road immediately after crossing the Kenai River bridge (at the 5th traffic light from when you enter Soldotna). Proceed approx. 4 miles to MURWOOD DRIVE (mile marker 18 K-Beach). Turn LEFT on Murwood Drive, 1/2 mile to OLLIE Street. Turn RIGHT onto Ollie and proceed 1/4 mile straight ahead into our driveway.

Kenai Peninsula

The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska in the United States. The name Kenai is probably derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for the Cook Inlet, which borders the peninsula to the west.

It extends approximately 150 miles (240 km) southwest from the Chugach Mountains, south of Anchorage. It is separated from the mainland on the west by the Cook Inlet and on the east by the Prince William Sound. Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

The glacier-covered Kenai Mountains (7,000 ft/2,130 m) run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park. The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter and marshy, dotted with numerous small lakes such as Bear Lake. Several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake. Rivers include the Kenai River, famous for its salmon population, as well as the Russian River, the Kasilof River, and Anchor River. Kachemak Bay, a small inlet off the larger Cook Inlet, extends into the peninsula's southwest end.

The Kenai Peninsula is littered with glaciers on its eastern portion. It is home to both the Sargent Icefield and Harding Icefields and numerous glaciers that spawn off them

Soldotna

In 1947, after World War II, United States government allowed settling of land on parts of the Kenai Peninsula under the Homestead Act. Veterans of the United States armed services were given a 90-day preference over non-veterans in selecting land and filing for property. Also in that year, the Sterling Highway right-of-way was cleared of trees from Cooper Landing to Kenai. The location of present-day Soldotna was selected as the site for the highway's bridge crossing the Kenai River.

The construction of the Sterling Highway provided a link from the Soldotna area to the outside world. More homesteads were taken and visitors came to fish in the area. The Soldotna post office opened in 1949 and other businesses opened in the next few years.

Oil was discovered in the Swanson River region in 1957, bringing some new economic development to the area. In 1960, Soldotna was incorporated as a city with a population of 332.

Sport fishing and tourism are currently the mainstays of the economy in Soldotna. It also receives some economic advantage from being the seat of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Tourist visit to see glaciers, fish for king salmon, red salmon, silver salmon, and many others.

Kenai

Kenai is named after the Kenai Peninsula. Archaelogical evidence suggests the area was first occupied by the Kachemak people from 1000 B.C., until they were displaced by the Dena'ina Athabaskan people around 1000 A.D.

Before the arrival of the Russians, Kenai was a Dena'ina village called Shk'ituk't, which means "where we slide down." When Russian fur traders first arrived in 1741, about 1,000 Dena'ina lived in the village. The traders called the people "Kenaitze," or "Kenai people."

In 1791, a Russian trading post, Fort St. Nicholas, was constructed in the middle of the village for the purposes of fur and fish trading. It was the second permanent Russian settlement in Alaska.

Hostilities surfaced between the natives and settlers in 1797 when what is dubbed the battle of Kenai, an incident in which the Dena'ina attacked Fort St. Nicholas, resulting in over one hundred deaths from all involved parties. Later, in 1838, the introduction of smallpox killed one half of the Dena'ina population.

In 1869, after the Alaska Purchase the United States Army established a post called Fort Kenay. It was soon abandoned.

In 1888 a prospector named Alexander King discovered gold on the Kenai Peninsula. The amount of gold was small compared to the later gold finds in the Klondike, Nome and Fairbanks.

In 1894, the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church was built in the village. It is still in use today.

The establishment of shipping companies in the early 1900's broadened Kenai into a port city. Canning companies were established and helped fuel the commercial fishing boom that was the primary activity through the 1920's. In 1937, construction of the Kenai Airport began.

In 1940, homesteads were opened in the area. The first dirt road from Anchorage was constructed in 1951; pavement would not arrive until 1956 with the construction of the Kenai Spur highway.

A military base, Wildwood Army Station (later Wildwood Air Force Station), was established in 1953 and served as a major communications post. Wildwood was conveyed in 1974 to the Kenai Native Association in partial settlement of Alaska Native land claims. The facility was leased and later purchased by the State of Alaska and presently serves as the Wildwood Correctional Complex.[3][4]

In 1957, oil was discovered at Swanson River, 20 miles northeast of Kenai. This was the first major oil discovery in Alaska. In 1965, offshore oil discoveries in Cook Inlet caused a period of rapid growth.